In 2021 Budget Proposal, Trump Once Again Seeks to End Federal Library Funding

For a fourth straight year, the Trump administration has once again proposed the permanent elimination of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and with it virtually all federal funding for libraries.

The Trump Administration’s $4.875 trillion fiscal year 2021 budget blueprint, dubbed “A Budget for America’s Future,” proposes to boost defense, Veterans Affairs, and NASA, with steep proposed cuts to social programs including Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the State Department, foreign aid, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The proposal also lays out a path, including a sequestration order, to trim the annual budget deficit, which has exploded under the Trump Administration and is projected to top $1 trillion for FY2020. […] “ALA takes the White House proposal seriously,” ALA president Wanda Brown said in a statement. “After three years of consistent pushback from library advocates and Congress itself, the administration still has not gotten the message: eliminating federal funding for libraries is to forego opportunities to serve veterans, upskill underemployed Americans, start and grow small businesses, […]

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